Baseboard radiator provided with damper



D 5, 1953 R. N. TRANE ETAL BASEBOARD RADIATOR PROVIDED WITH DAMPER 2 Sheet s-Sheet Filed March l6, 195] INVENTORS RE UBEN N. TRANE & OTTO VA. LABUS ATIDRNEYS Dec. 15, 1953 R. N. TRANE EI'AL 5 3 BASEBOARD RADIATOR PROVIDE'D WITH DAMPER Filed March 16, 95 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO G REUBEN N. TRANE 3: OTTD A. LABUS TTORNEYS Patented Dec. 15, 1953 BASEBOARD RADIATOR PROVIDED WITH DAMPER Reuben Nicholas Trane and Otto A. Labus, La Crosse, Wis.; Helen Trane, legal guardia o! Reuben N. Trane, assigors to The Trane Company, La Crosse, Wis.

Application March 16, 1951, Serial No. 215.933 y 3 Claims. l

This invention relates to heat exchange apparatus and particularly to convector radiators adapted to be installed at the lower part of the walls of a room.

More particularly this invention relates to heating apparatus comprising one or more lengths of metallic tubing provided with heat conducting fins and to cabinet structure enclosing the heating surface to form a duct for fiow of air over the heating surface. This convector is usually located in that region of the wall which is finished with a baseboard, and for this reason it is commonly referred to as a baseboard heater or baseboard convector.

It is an object of this invention to provide a baseboard convector which because of its continuous horizontal lines, simulates the appearance of the usual baseboard and blends into the architectural or decorative scheme.

It is another object of this invention to provide a baseboard convector which occupies little space but which is high in heating Capacity.

It is another object of this invention to provide a baseboard convector which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and which can be installed with a minimum of labor.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cabinet which is shaped with an outwardly extending bulge to provide longitudinal stiifness, lateral fiexibility, and increased area for air flow.

Other objects and. advantages of the invention will appear as the specification proceeds to describe the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a portion of the baseboard convector with part of the front panel cut away to show the interior Construction.

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the baseboard convector mounted on the wall of a room.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the baseboard convector.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the baseboard convector with part of the top cover cut away to show the interier Construction.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a modification of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of a supporting bracket.

Referring now to the drawings, numeral I 0 indicates a tube for conducting heat exchange medium such as steam, water or other heat exchange fluid. A plurality of heat conducting fins !2 are mounted on the tube I 0. The tube o extends through a hole in each of the fins [2 and it may be soldered o'r welded to the fins or it may be in expanded contact with the fins, all of which is old and well known in the art. The tube is supported by a plurality of brackets l4 and rests in a slot !6 formed in a flange 18 of the bracket l4. Bracket l4 is secured to the wall by two screws 20 which extend through slots 22 in fiange 24 of bracket l4. Washers 26 are interposed between the heads of screws 28 and the fiange 24 of bracket I4. The washers 26 and the slots 22 facilitate horizontal movement of the bracket l4 with respect to the screws 20 to accommodate expansion and contraction of the heating element caused by changes in temperature.

The flange s of the bracket I 4 has an upwardly extending lug 28 and a downwardly extending lug 30. i Lugs 28 and 30 are received respectively in a downwardly formed bead 32 and an upwardly' formed bead 34 of the front panel 36. The front panel 36 has an outwardly bulged portion 38 which provides longitudinal stiffness to the front panel. The outwardly bulged portion 38 also provides lateral flexibility to the front panel 38 whereby the front panel 38 may be snapped into place by engaging the bead 32 over the lug 28 and forcing the lower bead 34 over the lug 30. The outwardly bulged portion 38 has still another function in that it provides increased free area for the fiow of air over the heating element as will be described later.

A top panel 40 is secured to the wall by screws 42 which extend through holes in the ange 44 of top panel 40. The lower edge of fiange 44 serves as a locating edge against which the bracket [4 is held when it is fastened to the wall. The edge of flange 44 also serves to guide the bracket l4 when it is moved by expansion and contraction of tube o. An angle 46 is fastened to fiange l8 of bracket l4 as by spot welding. The top edge of angle 46 and the top edge of flange 24 form an extended surface for engagement with the edge of fiange 44 to 'prevent any substantial angular movement of bracket l4. Top panel 40 has a re-entrant portion 48 which forms a seat for a fiexible normally cylindrical scaling member 50. Sealng member fl 'prevents the escape of air between the wall and top panel 40. The escape of air at this point would result in the deposit of dirt on the wall above the baseboard convector. The sealing member 50 may be of rubber or rubber-like material or some cellulose material which offers some reslstance to deformation.

Panel 40 has an outwardly and downwardly extending flange 52 which, has an inwardly formed bead 54. A damper 56 has a head 58 formed along one longitudinal edge. The head 58 is received in the bead 54 of fiange 52 and is held therein by a plurality of springs 60. Spring 60 has a re-entrant portion 62 which engages bead. 58 of damper 56 and a re-entrant portion 64 which engages re-entrant portion 48 of top panel 46. At a point near its center spring 60 engages the underside of fiange 52. It is thus evident that damper 56 may be adjusted to its open position as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 or it may b adjusted to a closed position as shown by dotted lines in Fg. 3. The bead 54 and the portion 62 of the spring 66 frictionally engage the damper 56 to retain it in its angularly adjusted position. The damper 56 has flange 66 which flange 66 provides stiifness to the damper. For adjusting the damper a handle 68 is pivotally secured thereto.

As shown in Fig. 4 a top cover 10 extends over the space between two adjacent' top panels 40. The cover 'ID has a member 12 which has the same cross-sectional shape as top panel 46 except that the fiange 52 does not extend for the full length. A flange 14 is secured to member 12 in any suitable manner as by spot welding. Flange 74 is shaped to closely engage the top panel 40. A spring 60 acts against the damper 56 to hold cover 'lo against the wall.

A side cover 16 extends over the space between adjacent side panels 36. The side cover '16 is shaped to closely envelope the side panels 36 and it can be snapped into place in a manner similar to that by which the side panels 46 are snapped into place on the brackets 14.

End covers 18 enclose the ends of a section of baseboard convector as is ;clearly shown in Fig. 2. The end cover 18 is fastened to the wall. l'he top and the front of the end cover are similar in shape to the top panel 40 and side panel 33 respectively so that the last mentioned panels telescope into the end cover 18.

It is contemplated that the baseboard convector may extend along two or more sides of a room in which case a corner cover member may be used as is common and well known in the prior art.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 5, the function of the bulge 38 in the front panel 35 will be explained. The tube o is offset outwardly with respect to the geometric Center of the fins I 2. The greatest resistance to flow of air through a heater of this type is at the horizontal plane of the axis of the tube because at this point the cross-sectional area for air flow is a minimum. The cabnet is therefore bulged outwardly at 38 to increase the area for air flow at the point where it is a minimum. As explained above the bulge 38 also functions to provide longitudinal stifness and lateral fiexibility to the front panel 36.

As shown in Figure 5, the fins 80 have curved outer edges of a contour similar to that of bulge 33. It has been found by test that the apparatus of Figure has a heating capacity considerably greater than that obtained from apparatus which does not have the bulge 38.

It was then discovered that the increase in free area was more responsible for the increased heating Capacity than was the increase in fin surface permitted by the bulge. For this reason the preferred embodiment of the invention is as shown in Fig. 3 in which the fin l2 is rectangular. It has not been definitely proved how the bulge 38 contributes to increased capacity without the addition of heat transfer surface. The increased heating Capacity may be due to better distribution of air flow overthe heating surface.

The air entering the lower front opening of the enclosure, because of its momentum flows unevenly through the heating unit and tends to pass to a greater degree through the part of the heating unit nearest the wall. The bulge 36 provides increased area for air flow near the front of the unit, and it is reasonable to assume that this is effective in turning the air stream from its horizontal movement to a vertical movement thereby providing a more even flow of air over the heating unit.

While we have described the foregoing preferred embodiments of our invention, we contemplate that many changes may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of our invention and we desire to be limited only by the claims.

1. A convector radiator comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to a wall, a conduit foia heat exchange medium supported by said brac'iet, a plurality of ns on said conduit, a front panel secured to said bracket and adapted to form with the wall a duet for conducting air over said conduit and said fins, a top panel having a first fiange adapted to be secured to the wall and a second fiange extending outwardly from said first fiange, the extremity of said second ange being spaced from said front panel to provied an air outlet and having a bead; a damper rotatably supported in said bead and spring members engaging said first fiange and said damper and normally preventing disengagement of said damper from said bead.

2. A convector radiator comprising a brac'zet adapted to be secured to a wall, a conduit for a heat exchange medium supported by said bracket, a plurality of fins on said conduit, a front panel secured to said bracket and adapted to form with the wall a duet for conducting air over said conduit and said fins, a top panel having a first fiange adapted to be secured to the wall, and a second flange extending outwardly from said first flange, the extremity of said second fiange being spaced from said front panel to provide an air outlet and having a bead, a damper rotatably supported in said bead, said first fiange having a reentrant portion, a resilient gasket supported in said reentrant portion and adapted to engage the wall, spring members engaging said reentrant portion and said damper member to normally prevent disengagement of said damper from said bead.

3. A convector radiator comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to a wall, conduit for a heat exchange fluid supported by said bracket, a first panel secured to said bracket and adapted to form with the wall a duct for conducting air over said conduit, a second panel having a first flange adapted to be secured to the wall and a second flange extending outwardly from said first fiange, the extremity of said second fiange being spaced from said front panel to provide an air outlet and having a bead, a damper rotatably supported in said bead, said first fiange having a reentrant portion, spring members having first curved portions seating on said reentrant portion and second curved portions engaging said damper to frictionally hold said damper in adjusted position in said bead.

REUBEN NICHOLAS TIRANE. OTTO A. LABUS.

(References on following page) 5 References cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Bennett et al. Dec. 8, 1931 Seelert May 17, 1932 Stevenson June '7, 1932 Shurtleff Oct. 11, 1932 Hamacher June 20, 1933 6 Name Date Germanprez Mar. 27, 1934 Jafle May 1, 1934 Young Aug. 28, 1934 Schultz et al June 24, 1941 Reiss Aug. 2, 1949 Weber et al. Nov. 8, 1949 'Balzer Jan. 23, 1951 

